


Family and Firearms

by Queerbutstillhere



Category: Batman (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Hood/Arsenal (Comics)
Genre: Cute, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Family, Jason Todd has a Heart, M/M, Protective Roy Harper
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 03:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Queerbutstillhere/pseuds/Queerbutstillhere
Summary: Jason moved in with Roy and Lian Harper not long after they moved to Gotham. He very quickly became a part of the little family, and starts considering Lian his daughter. Little does he know she thinks of him as her second dad.Aka: Jason Todd goes peak domestic Dad and everyone in his family makes fun of him for it. He's whipped for Roy and very protective of Lian.That one domestic fic that i needed to write.





	Family and Firearms

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So, uh, confession time! I've never read any Red Hood comics or anything, so offer me a bit of grace with things aren't correct!
> 
> Also ages might be a bit wonky?? I don't know. Its cute and fluffy and just focus on that lmao.
> 
> Possible TW:  
Violence(guns, bows ect), drugs, smoking, kidnapping.

"Is your dad here?"

"No. He went out."

"Can I come in to talk?"

"No. Uncle Dickie said I shouldn't ever let strangers in."

"Well he was right…. Why aren't you in school?"

"I was sick this morning."

"... Are you home alone??"

"No. Jay is here!"

"Why didn't he answer the door then?"

"He's napping."

"Can you get him? I'd like to ask him some things about your dad."

"Sure….. Jay!!! This police man wants to talk to you!!!"

Jason felt his heart jolt. Of course he was already awake. He had woken up not seconds after he heard Lian talking to an adult male. He had immediately gone into protective mode, but didn't move, other then to grab the switchblade from his pocket. He had listened to the conversation, hearing Lian give all the proper answers. Roy had trained his daughter well. He sat up upon Lian's second call, glancing over the back of the sofa to see Lian, a tiny eight year old, standing with the door partially open.

Lian had answered all the questions as she had been taught. Question: Where is currently missing vigilante? Answer: Out. Never give a specific location. Question: Why aren't you in school. Answer: Sick. The real answer was that Bruce had gotten wind of some bomb threats and Roy was too paranoid to send Lian to school that day. Question: Are you alone? Answer: No. Sidelined vigilante boyfriend of her father was there to babysit. 

So why hadn't Jason jumped up the minute he had heard the talking? Why had he let an eight year old talk to a random adult male unsupervised. Simple. He knew Lian Harper was vicious and always down to nail a man in the privates. He knew the girl had been training with Roy and Oliver in archery, and between Richard and himself, the girl had rather extensive knowledge of self-defense. And besides, he knew that he could get up and across the room in a mere heartbeat if he heard even the slightest sign of danger. Lian may not be his kid, but she was precious to him.

"Yes, em yêu?"

Lian pointed to the police officer outside the door. He was tall, blonde, definitely muscular, but one quick size up told Jason that he was taller, and bigger. Jason pushed up off the sofa, gently slipping his switchblade back in his pocket and walking over, taking the door from Lian and pulling her behind him, glancing at the crossbow hidden behind the door. He wasn't great with bows, but he'd be able to use it in an emergency.

"Can I help you?" Jason grumbled, his voice rough from sleep and from his previous activities that had gotten him sidelined. Aka running into a burning building and cracking two ribs in the process.

"Yeah. I'm looking for Roy Harper."

"He's not here… he went out."

"Yes, that's what the girl said." the officer sized Jason up, keeping his hands on his hips, Jason had pulled the door open a tad bit more so he could see the man better.

"Well she ain't lying. Her dad raised her better then that. Why do you want him?"

"What's your relationship with Mr. Harper?"

"I'm his boyfriend, sorry bud. Now why do you want him."

The police officer opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jason quickly interrupted.

"Listen, officer. I got a brother who's a detective, so I know damn well what you guys can and can not do. This whole interrogation act is over. So either you tell me why the hell you are looking for my boyfriend, or you're gonna turn around and leave right now before I call someone who's gonna make you."

The officer glared at him, but sighed, shaking his head slightly.

"Mr. Harper is under suspicion for a murder case related to the vigilantes known as Arsenal and Red Hood." 

The office pulled up his phone, swiping to find a picture of the victim at the crime scene, an arrow through his heart. Jason instantly recognized the scene, but kept his face neutral, pulling Lian further behind him so she wouldn't see it. She didn't need to know exactly what the hell her dad and Jay got into.

"I would like to talk to him and ask him some questions about his whereabouts last Thursday night."

Jason laughed out loud, holding onto his ribs as he laughed, somehow making it sound not forced.

"I'm sorry? You think Roy is Arsenal? Jesus that guy nearly breaks a plate everyday. He couldn't hit a bottle in a carnival game if it was 5 feet away from him," Jason said still laughing.

"Cha is very clumsy," Lian agreed, poking her head around Jason's legs.

"I would just like to talk to him. Do you think you could give him a call for me?"

"Nope. My phone is toast, and he doesn't have a landline."

The office held out his own, Jason chuckled again.

"Who do you think I am? A Boomer? I don't got phone numbers memorized, buddy."

The officer almost visibly bristled. Jason gave him a shit eating grin, leaning forwards.

"Now, I'm thinking you better be leaving, officer. Have a good day."

The police officer sighed, but nodded and turned to walk away. Jason shut and locked the door behind him, turning to Lian, who was watching him suspiciously.

"Chim sẻ, is Cha in trouble?"

"No. No more than usual, em yêu."

Jason scooped up the small girl, grunting slightly at the pressure on his ribs, and walked back to the sofa, grabbing his very much fine phone as he sat down, Lian on his knee.

"What do you say we check in on Roy?"

"Okay!"

Lian jumped down and ran into her room. A few minutes later, she reappeared with two ear piece comms. She climbed back up onto the sofa and sat back on Jason's lap, handing him one. They put in their earpieces and they tapped on it. Two seconds later Roy's crackly voice came over the line.

"Well hello to the best person ever!? How are things back at the fort?"

"Good, Cha!"

"Yeah? What did Jay feed you?"

"We had chicken and parmesan pasta!"

"Oh that sounds delicious. I'm jealous, I haven't eaten since pancakes this morning."

Jason heard the faint whisper of an arrow being drawn, and then the snap of the bow as Roy released the arrow, followed by the shout of someone.

"I see him!" Roy yelled back.

"Roy…" Jason said softly, hearing an explosion.

"Oh, hey baby, didn't realize you were on the call too."

"Yeah… hey we just got done talking to a police officer who wanted to talk to you…."

"... About?"

"They think you're linked to Arsenal."

"And what did you say?"

"I told them him that he was delusional, and there was no way you were connected to Arsenal, or were him. He still seemed to want to talk to you."

"Well shit."

"Cha! Bad words!"

"Ah, sorry sweetie. My bad. Remind me to put a quarter in the jar later…… look don't judge me on my parenting styles, look how your kids turned out."

Jason laughed slightly, realizing Roy was talking to Bruce. There were more explosions, and Lian tensed, a worried expression appearing on her face.

"Crappp…. Okay, hey Jay-baby, Lian sweetie. I gotta run okay? Stay inside and stay safe. I love you two."

"Love you too, Cha."

"Roy please be careful."

"I'll try."

Seconds later the line went to static. Jason pulled out his earpiece and set it on the coffee table, Lian copied him, before looking at him, concerned.

"Is Cha okay?"

"Yeah, he'll be fine, Lian. You wanna watch a movie?"

She nodded enthusiastically, sliding off Jason's lap and running to look through Roy's movie collection. The man was a hoarder of all things DVD, and that was one of the few things he had packed up and brought with him from Star City. Jason stood, turning on the TV and DVD player, he grabbed some pillows and fluffy blankets. Lian was still looking through movies, so he dropped the blankets on the sofa and went to the kitchen and started searching through Roy's pantry. Well, rather their pantry. He spent about 90% of his free time at the apartment, and slept here most nights.

He came back with a quickly thrown together trail mix, plenty of chocolate baking chips added in to make it better. Jason sat down on the sofa, watching Lian finally grab a movie before running over and putting it in the player. She scrambled over to Jason, climbing up into his nest of pillows and blankets and burying deep, snuggling into him. Jason reached over, gently brushing the girls black hair back away from her face. He would need to take her to the Manor and get her bangs trimmed here soon. Alfred had always been amazing with that.

Lian had picked some goofy sci-fi movie. _Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure_. Jason didn't mind, he was used to Roy's stupid movies, and wasn't at all surprised that the love of them had rubbed off on his kid. The movie was almost two hours long, and Jason used the time to access Batcave security, using that to hack into street cameras, flipping around the city until he caught a glimpse of a yellow and black cape - Damian. How'd he get out of school? - and followed that around until he found what appeared to be the main issue. Two rather large Mech suits protecting a very large bomb. Roy, luckily, was nowhere in sight, which meant he was holed up somewhere giving support.

Jason was unhappy. This was clearly an all hands on deck situation. And yet here he was, sat on his ass because he had irritation in his lungs from smoke inhalation, coupled with his cracked ribs, and having been shanked by a prison escapee two days ago. He was sidelined when he should be out helping with this, protecting his city. But no, his wonderful, loving, paranoid boyfriend and made him sit this one out, with the very important charge of keeping Lian safe. Jason was willing to stay and keep Lian safe, he loved the girl like his own daughter, hell he'd been around long enough that she practically was. But that didn't mean he wasn't getting itchy about being stuck here. After having watched the fight for about an hour, Jason noted that Superman and Superboy had joined the fight, Superboy never leaving Robin's side. Damn that kid was like a loyal golden retriever.

When the movie ended, Jason forced himself to put down his phone, he sent Lian to finish her homework, Roy having made her promise to get it done before he got back. And while she got her backpack and sat down at the breakfast bar, Jason grabbed the thawed hamburger from the fridge and started making some hamburger mac n cheese. While his noodles were cooking, he grabbed one of the comms of the table, connecting it to his phone and then hacking into the bats radio frequency, listening to the fight as he cooked.

He felt like a goddamned housewife. Sitting in his home, cooking supper, and waiting for Roy to return home from work. Jon and Clark had joined the line at some point, Jon and Damian's quiet bickering fading into the background as Jason listened intently for Roy or Dick. 

"I got a solid idea," Jon said finally.

"What is it, Superboy?" Batman's grumbly voice asked.

"I'm like, indestructible, right? Why don't I just…. I don't know. Fly through it."

"Don't be stupid, Superboy," Robin started to say, then stopped. "Actually that might work. If you can identify where it's processor is…"

"Lead lined, so no, but if I take out the middle section of it surely it won't be able to go much further."

"I'll take the east one," Superman's voice inputted.

Jason quickly unlocked his phone, looking at it to see the two blue boys smash through the center chest of the two mechs. A quick loop back through and they crashed to the ground. The bat and birds immediately gathered around the bomb, starting to debate about it.

"What if I just take it space?"

"No, use your eyes, it's attached by wires to the ground, even you two aren't fast enough to get it up high enough."

Damian was such a smartass. He was definitely the second favorite.

"I've never seen anything like this before," Red Robin was saying, arguing lightly with Batman.

"Guys…. Can I like… go home now?" Roy finally asked, having not joined them.

"Oh, Arsenal. Yeah, go ahead, no reason for you to be in the blast area. If nothing else then you and Hood will be around to keep things in check," Nightwing said.

"Okay, cool. Call if you need me."

Jason kept his ear piece in, even after Roy disconnected, listening to make sure he didn't need to grab Lian and run. He made sure to keep himself muted when he helped Lian with an English question she had. He had supper ready, hamburger mac and cheese and peas, almost ten minutes before a tired looking Roy walked in the door.

"Cha!!" Lian cried, jumping off her stool and running over to hug him.

"Hi, sweetheart."

Roy picked up his daughter, hugging her tightly. He didn't move from the entryway for a few minutes, just content to hug Lian, but watching Jason cautiously. Finally he put down Lian and walked over, taking Jason's spoon from him and hugging his taller, buff boyfriend tightly. Jason grunted in minor annoyance, but hugged Roy back, noting faintly that he smelled horrible. Like sweat and smoke, acrid smoke, not like cigarettes or campfire smoke.

"Thank you," Roy murmured. "I know you hate staying behind."

"Yeah, don't expect to happen often, Robin Hood."

Roy chuckled lightly.

"Now, you stink, but I will give you the option of eating before you go shower," Jason said, pushing Roy off to reclaim his spoon and returning to stirring the Mac and cheese in order to keep it hot.

"I will gladly take that option. I'm starving," Roy said, washing his hands in the kitchen sink. 

He was wearing normal civilian clothes. Black joggers, a black t-shirt and a blue flannel that was definitely Jason's. Every hint that he was Arsenal was left behind at Jason's safehouse in Park Row. Jason was quietly watching him, making sure he wasn't moving in anyway that indicated injuries.

"Cha! You gotta add a quarter!" Lian reminded Roy.

"Oh you're right!" 

Roy pulled down three plates, passing them to Jason before disappearing into his bedroom, he came back with several quarters, grabbing their swear jar from it's place on the kitchen counter and dropping about five in.

"I said some bad words while I was out," Roy confessed to Lian, who giggled and promptly forgave him.

Jason, half listening to the incredibly domestic scene, and half to his family disarm the bomb, made three plates of food, a much larger serving going to Roy, since Jason knew he hadn't eaten. He only took the earpiece out when he was preparing to sit down, Roy gave him a disapproving look but didn't say anything, hungrily beginning to shovel food in.

Hours later, Lian had went to bed, as she still had school in the morning, and Jason was preparing to go out, despite Roy's protesting.

"Come on, you're still injured. I'm taking the night off and you know I don't sleep right without you," Roy tried, he was sat on the couch, watching Jason lace up his boots.

"Roy, I know. I won't stay out too late. I just need to go show up and remind a few people that I'm still in charge of Crime Alley, and then I'll leave the Bats to handle it. Damian still owes me and I'll get him to watch things on our end, okay?" Jason tied his last boot and stood, walking over to Roy. "I'll try to be back by one am at the latest."

Roy pouted. The grown man literally stuck his bottom lip out and gave Jason a pitiful look. Jason just shook his head, leaning down and kissing Roy quickly.

"I'll be fine, Roy, I got my Kevlar and I'm pretty durable."

"Fine, but I'm gonna be pissed if you come home with anything more then a scratch or bruise."

Jason laughed lightly, letting Roy kiss him again. He didn't dare let the contact remain too long, because Roy had this power over him that could get him to change his mind about almost anything. Even going out on patrol. 

"Be safe!" Roy called, watching Jason walk to the door.

"I will!"

He was not.

Jason came to hours later laying in the Batcave. The moment he woke up, the first words of his mouth were "ah shit". He took mental stock of himself, feet and legs worked fine, except for maybe some fall shock to his ankles and knees. Fingers and arms fine. Ribs? Still cracked, if not worse. He could feel new staples in his stomach, which meant he definitely pulled the old ones, gauze and tape covering them. So why the hell did he feel like shit… like he was coming off a high and crashing hard?

Oh yeah. Because he was.

He sat up, rubbing his head, which was pounding like the drums of a metal band. Not far away, Dick was unconscious on a cot, his head heavily bandage, his bare chest stained with blood. Jason groaned and pushed to his feet. And instantly collapsed, catching himself on the cot.

"Caution Todd, you have yet to fully recover," a rather snotty sounding voice said.

Jason cast his gaze further around the batcave, spotting Damian, of course, sat in what appeared to be a makeshift lounge, still in his Robin gear, but mask and weapons discarded. He was reading from a book and taking notes…. Homework, Jason remembered those days.

"Damian?" Jason croaked out. Oh god his throat was horrible.

"I was advised to keep you sitting down."

Jason nodded numbly and flopped on his ass on the cot. He had a hole in his memory. The past several hours…. Since he had gotten to Crime Alley, was just gone.

"What time is it?" He forced out.

"Nearly 3:32."

Oh no. He was so dead.

"Oh god." Jason pushed himself back up, staggering to the nearby table that had his pile of equipment and clothes.

"Harper is on his way."

"WHAT?!" 

Jason immediately started coughing, bracing himself on the table. Damian set down his books, pushing his dog's head off his lap and walking over to Jason. He grabbed his adopted brothers arm and led him over to the cot again.

"He radioed in thirty minutes ago and insisted on coming when I explained what happened."

"Why are you even here?" Jason asked before, chugging the waterbottle Damian handed him.

"I have a Biology exam in the morning."

Jason shook his head lightly.

"What… what happened to me."

"Father and I had begun cracking down on leads involving the development of new drug. One of those pleasure ones that are quickly addictive. You had also begun researching the case, due to the rise of the sales in Park Row and Crime Alley. We arrived in Crime Alley this evening to find you engaged in combat with a man in his mid thirties, who managed to inject you with the drug. You immediately started reacting, getting delusional and very relaxed….. until you weren't."

Damian hesitated nearly a minute before speaking.

"Something about the drug….. we think…. We think it reacted negatively with the Lazarus Rage… like the rage was trying to purify your body of it. It took father and I nearly twenty minutes to successfully catch and incapacitate you and bring you back here."

That explains the memory gap then.

"Well shit."

Damian smirked slightly.

"I do believe you own Lian fifty cents now.

"Shut up, its a good tactic," Jason muttered, immediately defending his boyfriend's parenting methods.

"I didn't say it wasn't."

They both glanced up as they heard the lift land, followed by fast footsteps. Jason prepared himself for nearly a half an hour of yelling. Damian patted his shoulder and walked away. Sure enough, Jason's ginger haired boyfriend swept into the med room, looking pissed.

"You are a fucking dead man!" Roy yelled at Jason, pointing a finger as he stalked over.

"Roy-"

"Do you have any idea how worried I was?! You weren't home by 1 like you promised, and then! You wouldn't even answer comms! Dick wasn't answering his either, I can see why, now! So I radio in here and this little shit tells me you've been drugged and are lying in a cot with low vitals having just come off a Lazarus Rage?!"

Jason sighed, letting Roy continue to yell about how worried he was. Until he felt his anger start flaring. He squeezed his eyes shut, clenching his fists, feeling the tingling in his muscles, the empty hallow feeling in his stomach. 

"God, sometimes you can be so stupid!"

"Shut the fuck up! It's not like I walked up to a random dealer and ordered him to stab me!" Jason finally yelled back, his temper snapping.

Roy almost physically recoiled, shock overcoming him and reading all over his body language. Jason let his eyes open, glaring at his boyfriend, who immediately snapped his mouth shut, realizing what he had caused.

"Jesus, Roy! It's not like I wanna be an addict, hell I barely even drink anymore! So you can just shove your judgement up your ass and leave it there! God! I was gonna come back too! Right after I had dealt with him!"

"Jason," Roy said softly, wisely keeping his distance.

Jason felt his body regaining energy, but he didn't want it. He knew where it was coming from. It had been months. Months since his last rage, and here he was, being dragged back into an episode because of some dumbass drug dealer and now his angry, but worried boyfriend. He stood up off the cot without telling his body to do so, anger burning through his veins.

"Todd, please sit back down."

Jason spun on the creepy ninja called Damian who had somehow snuck up beside him. Before he could react, his rage finally snapping and causing him to lash out at the teen, Damian stepped in, grabbing his arm and stabbing him with a needle, injecting the contents quickly before springing back out of reach.

"What the hell was that?!" Roy screamed at Damian.

"A mild sedative…. Akin to Xanax, if that helps. It will not incapacitate him, but it should greatly calm the effects of the rage."

Jason was now pissed, but not because of the rage. In fact the little demon brat was right, he could feel it dulling almost instantly, its sharp thorny tendrils releasing him slightly. No, he was pissed that Damian had just put another drug in his system. But as he felt it taking affect, he sat down on the cot, looking down at his feet.

"S'rry, Roy," Jason muttered, his accent thickening.

Roy sighed and walked over, sinking down beside Jason and slipping his arms around him, hugging the taller man lightly, careful of his stitches.

"It's okay, Jay-baby. I shouldn't've yelled like that, I knew it wasn't your fault."

Neither noticed Damian slip away, aware his services were no longer needed here.

"Is this stupid rage," Jason's words were slightly slurred, and he was now leaning into Roy, his body crashing again.

"I know. Shh, I know baby…."

"I wanna go back home, Roy."

"Okay. We can go home. I'll take you home. But you gotta promise me to come back tomorrow and have Alfred check that the drugs all out of you."

Jason nodded. "I will."

Damian reappeared, gently placing each of Jason's items in a black canvas bag and then offering it to Roy. Roy slipped the bag over his head, looking inside.

"Where's his guns?" He asked, taking quick stock of everything he knew should be inside.

"I will give them to you right before you leave," Damian said softly. 

He reached out, carefully taking Jason's wrist. Jason didn't resist, watching as Damian closed his eyes, counting Jason's heart rate. Finally he let go, reaching up and pressing the back of his ungloved hand to Jason's forehead. Everything he did was incredibly gentle and caring and very much not like Damian.

"D, are you dying?" Jason muttered, watching Damian's face.

The corner of his mouth twitched up.

"No, Todd. But I know the effects of Lazarus Rage. I know it is not pleasant."

Jason stared at the young teen. He had completely forgotten(if he had known at all) that Damian had grown up around the pit, and had probably seen a lot of people revived through it. Hell, his mom was the chick who threw Jason in so it wouldn't surprise him if the boy had taken a dip or two himself. 

"Have you-"

"Don't Ask. Don't Tell."

Jason reached out and gently ruffled Damian's hair, he scoffed at the older man, but surprisingly didn't try to kill him. Jason and Roy watched him walk away, gather his things and whistle for Titus. He started walking back out into the main section of the batcave, motioning for the two men to follow.

"Hey, what happened to Dick?" Roy asked, helping support Jason as they walked over.

"Got sliced several times across the chest and then fell off a building. Father suspects a concussion."

"Oh Jesus."

Damian walked all the way across the cave to where Jason knew Bruce had a safe where he kept a lot of dangerous materials. Bruce kept the code secret, even Alfred wasn't told it. Damian just leaned over it, and two seconds later he pulled the huge door open, stepping into the bank vault type safe. He reappeared with the belt and thigh holsters that housed Jason's gun, the guns safely tucked inside. Damian closed and locked the door again, walking back over to the two and gently placed them inside the canvas bag.

"Whoa, how'd you convince Bruce to tell you the code?" Jason asked, faintly noting that his words were still slurred.

Damian raised an eyebrow. "You assume Father told me the code? I can imitate his voice, Todd. I don't need him to tell me."

"You can what?!" Roy exclaimed, eyes widening.

"Batman access code level alpha," Damian said, in a flawless mock of Bruce's voice.

Jason and Roy's mouths both fell open.

"What the hell?!" Jason exclaimed.

Damian shrugged it off, motioning towards the elevator. Roy took the silent cue and walked away, still supporting Jason, so forcing him to come as well. They got in the lift and then took it upstairs, walking outside to where Roy had parked his car. It wasn't anything special, but just something he could get around town with and take Lian places safely. He made sure Jason buckled his seatbelt before starting driving back to his apartment, keeping a careful eye on Jason, who was dozing slightly.

When they finally reached the building, Roy helped Jason upstairs to their apartment, helping him strip off his pants and pull off his boots before letting him collapse in bed. Jason heard Roy walk into Lian's room, checking on his daughter to make sure she was safe. The man could rarely do anything without checking on her after. They were both like that. Jason, hand over the staples in his stomach, shifted until he was comfortable, waiting patiently for his boyfriend to join him. He could hear Roy moving around, he was probably reactivating traps. Finally the door pushed open and Roy stepped inside, sighing lightly.

Jason watched in the dim lighting as Roy pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the side, nailing the laundry basket without looking. Next were his sneakers, and then cargo pants and socks. He pulled his hair out of its ponytail and shook out his long locks, walking over to the bed. He plugged in his phone before getting in bed next to Jason, both in just boxers. He braced himself up on one elbow, glancing over Jason's face.

"Your eyes are normal," he commented softly.

"Roy….. I am sorry. I shouldn't've snapped-"

"Shut up, Jason, I know you couldn't help it."

Jason sighed, reaching up and running his hand through Roy's hand, gently tugging on a tangled chunk of hair until his fingers pulled through. Roy let his eyes close, not fighting Jason as he played with his hair.

"I'm ready to sleep…."

"Me too," Roy said, softly, smiling.

Jason gently pulled him down, kissing him softly. They kissed for a while before Roy carefully snuggled up against Jason, hand splayed on his chest. They slowly drifted to sleep, Jason exhausted from the drug crash and from his back to back rages, and Roy still tired from his days activities.

The next morning, Roy woke up at normal time, cooked breakfast for himself and Lian and then took her to school. Texting Jason to remind him that he would be picking her up later that afternoon. Jason didn't wake up until noon. And even then he just dragged his ass into the living room and laid on the sofa watching HGTV and eating a huge bowl of cereal until two when he got up to take a shower, wrapping his stomach in plastic wrap to protect the gauze. He left a half an hour after he got out of the shower, finding Roy's car keys and driving to Lian's school. Usually he would just walk, that's what Roy typically did, but he was going to go the Manor after, and it was on the other side of Gotham.

He waited patiently in the pick-up line until Lian came skipping out, chatting with a girl and a boy. She spotted her father's car and quickly abandoned her friends, running over and jumping in the backseat.

"Chim sẻ!" She said happily, leaning up to kiss Jason's cheek.

"Hey kiddo, how was school?"

"It was good! Are you feeling better? Cha said you got hurt last night."

"Well. We're gonna go to the Manor and find out, sound good?"

"Yeah!"

Jason started the rather long drive across town, and Lian dug homework out of her backpack, beginning to work on it so she wouldn't have to do it later. When they finally got to the Manor, Jason let himself in, pulling up the drive and parking. Lian grabbed her backpack and skipping up the steps.

"Alfred!!" Jason called as they walked in. No response.

Further inspection of the Manor found Damian and Dick sat in the kitchen, a miserable Dick sat on the counter, drinking something that looked suspiciously like alcohol. Damian was sat at the island, reading from a thick looking textbook.

"Uncle Dickie!" Lian cried the second she walked into the room.

Dick almost choked on his drink. "Lian!"

He slid off the counter, crouching to meet the girl as she smashed into him in a big hug.

"Hey kid, where's your dad?"

"Chim sẻ brought me!" Lian pulled away to point at Jason, who was leaning against the doorframe.

"Hey, Dickie. How's your head?"

"Horrible. I feel like I have monkeys running around playing cymbals up in here."

Damian snorted slightly at that.

"Alfred is downstairs. I assume Roy sent you to have your blood checked?"

"Yeah. Is Bruce still okay with Lian going down?"

"No need. Lian. Bạn có muốn chơi với Tít không?"

"Xin vui lòng!" Lian cried eagerly, then looked up at Jay, giving him puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah, fine. But if she gets hurt, Roy's gonna kill me, and then you."

"Please, Todd. I wouldn't let that happen," Damian said with an eyeroll.

"Woah, watch it, D. People may start thinking you give a shit about people."

"Jay!" Lian protested.

"Ah shit."

She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

"Hey, kiddo…. What if we just… don't tell cha? Yeah?"

"Nope! I'm gonna tell him! And you owe the jar fifty cents!"

"Damnit."

"Seventy-five!"

Dick and Damian were watching him, amused looks on both their faces.

"Oh piss off," Jason said with an eyeroll. He took Lian's backpack and set it on the counter.

"No, we've heard all about this swear jar of Roy's. Did he start this before or after you moved in?"

"When he moved to Gotham."

"So it's still because of you?"

"Well yeah. Roy has the mouth of a choir boy compared to me."

"Oh, I highly doubt that," Damian said, smirking.

"You're disgusting."

"Damian! Nào!" Lian called, standing by the door.

Damian nodded solemnly, following Lian out of the room. Jason looked up at Dick.

"You want a drink?"

"Fuck yeah."

Dick turned, pulling a bottle of Scotch out of the cabinet and grabbing a glass, pouring Jason a serving and handing it to him.

"So. You've been basically living with Roy for what…. Three months now?"

"Basically? Dick, I spend so much time there that his landlord got upset and made me sign the lease. I now pay part of the rent. So I do live with Roy when I'm not out of town."

"Ah… and how's that going?"

"It's fine, Dick. None of your business."

"Alright… Well, I guess we should make our way downstairs. I gotta go get more pain meds."

They turned and started walking towards Bruce's office. They had just stepped inside when Jason's keen ears picked up on a high pitched scream. His heart dropped, and he spun on his heel, sprinting away, Dick hot on his heels, but confused what was happening. Jason burst through the back door, sprinting towards the part of the grass where he could see Damian. He was six feet away when he acknowledged Jon Kent almost ten feet in the air. Holding Lian on his back. Jason felt fear shoot through him.

"Kent! Put my kid down!" Jason bellowed.

Jon looked over, looking mildly startled. But he floated down to the ground, gently landing next to Damian. Lian slipped off his back and ran over to Jason, rambling about something. Jason just grabbed her gently, looking for injuries.

"Lian, are you okay?!"

"Yes! Jay! Jon was just flying with me!"

"God. Lian you scared me!"

Lian immediately sobered up, looking serious.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean too…"

Jason let out a small sigh, hugging the girl, glaring at Damian.

"It's okay, em yêu. I'm just glad you are okay."

He pulled away, looking at Jon.

"Kent, I know you didn't mean any harm, but for future reference, please don't take my daughter into the air without Roy or I giving you permission."

Jon nodded, the 12 year old looking serious.

"Sorry, Jason. I should've thought about it a little more."

"It's… its okay…. Lian, I have to go see Alfred. Okay? Stay with Damian. And…. Keep both feet on the ground?"

"Yes, Jay." Lian nodded seriously. She ran back to Damian.

Jason sighed and straightened, turning and walking away, feeling like he had aged another five years. Dick followed him, smirking in great amusement.

"Wow, I loved seeing your dad mode activate. How's it feel, being so domestic?"

"What?"

"Jay, you called her your kid. Twice. You've become a dad. Worse, you're a better dad then Bruce. Not that that's hard…"

"Shut the fuck up, Dick."

Jason didn't want to think about that. Not now. He should really bring it up to Roy. They walked back to the office, taking the lift down into the batcave. Alfred was supervising Tim and Cass sparing. Cass was obviously destroying Tim, it was quite amusing.

"Ah. Master Jason. Can I help you?" Alfred asked when Jason walked over.

"I made a promise to get a blood tox done today, and also Lian needs her hair trimmed."

Alfred nodded and led Jason to the medical center, quickly taking blood, putting it into the batcomputer while taking Jason's vitals.

"Hey…. Alfred..."

"Yes, Master Jason?"

"Do you think… do you think Lian sees me as her dad?"

Alfred was silent for a moment, going to the computer.

"I do not believe anyone will ever truly have that place in her heart, not when her real father is still around. But she is quite the bright girl. I'm sure she realizes how much you mean to Mr. Harper. And from what I can tell, she does view you as family. Why don't you just ask her?"

Jason didn't respond, watching Alfred go over to a computer monitor and look at the results. He didn't speak for a moment, clicking away at the screen.

"Good news. There are only traces of the drug you were injected with left in your system, nothing that is affecting you. There are, however, traces of the sedative Master Damian administered to you. The only affects of that will be drowsiness, which I'm sure you could use some sleep, as everyone in this household does," Alfred said dryly. "I can print off a copy of the results if you wish?"

"Yeah, Roy would appreciate that."

Alfred nodded, he grabbed a bottle of something, hit a few buttons and then walked away. Jason hopped off the cot he had been on and followed quietly, watching Alfred give Dick a few pain pills, call Cass and Tim's fight over, and then walk to the lift. Jason rode up with him.

"If you could bring Miss Lian to the kitchen, I will trim her hair for you."

"Yeah, I'll go get her."

Jason walked back outside, much calmer this time, and found the three still out in the grass. Jon was currently being used as a demonstration for Lian's amusement on proper Taekwondo methods. Jason watched for a minute as Damian, now barefoot, spun in a kick, jumping slightly to just miss the top of Jon's head with his heel. Lian clapped excitedly.

"Aw, come on, we all know he can take the hit," Jason called, walking over, arms crossed.

Damian glanced at him. "That may be, but my foot can not."

"If I didn't have two cracked ribs and fresh staples, I'd volunteer," Jason said, cracking a smirk.

Damian rolled his eyes.

"Hey, Lian. Alfred's gonna trim your hair, and then we gotta go so I can get supper started for when Roy gets home."

"Okay!" Lian said cheerfully, jumping up. She patted Titus on the head before running over, jumping to put one foot on Jason's leg and then swing up onto his back like a monkey. A practiced trick.

Damian had another amused smirk. "Honestly, Jason, if Father had known that you moving in with Harper would've changed you like this, he would've suggested it much sooner."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, you know exactly what I mean."

Jason frowned at him, adjusting Lian on his back.

"One day, Damian. If you miraculously make it through your teenage years, you'll find some hard-headed vigilante and you'll be surprised to discover that staying home and making supper isn't as horrible as it seems."

If Jason shot a knowing glance between Jon and Damian… well that was for the three of them to keep a secret.

"I'd die first," Damian muttered.

"Yeah, wouldn't be too surprised by that either." Jason shook his head and turned, walking back inside.

Lian stayed suspiciously quiet until they were in the kitchen. Jason sat her on a stool, leaning on a counter. Alfred walked in, handing him a paper before putting a cape around Lian.

"What's that, Jay?" Lian asked curiously as Jason folded the paper.

"Something for Cha, nothing to worry about."

"Okay!"

Lian happily chatted with Alfred as he trimmed her bangs first, and then took a little bit off the edges of her black hair, taking off any dead ends. Jason watched in silence. Lian practically squealed in excitement when Alfred told her that he had a surprise for her. The elderly butler disappeared for a few minutes before returning with a square box. He held it for Lian as she opened it, the girl squealed as she pulled out what appeared to be a Batgirl costume. Jason smiled slightly.

Halloween was in a few weeks, and when Jason found out that Roy usually spent weeks making Lian's costumes, he offered to ask Alfred, knowing the man would immediately accept. Roy had tried to refuse, but when Lian had announced she wanted to be Batgirl (Barbara felt very honored when Jason had told her), Roy had caved, allowing Jason to talk to Alfred. The Brit had showed up the next weekend to take Lian's measurements.

Halloween in Gotham? Isn't that a little risky? Well, yes. But years ago, Batman and his various side kicks and helpers had started picking some of the larger neighbourhoods to watch, spreading the word around the city that the kids could come trick or treating in those neighborhoods without fear, because the vigilantes would be keeping a close eye on the proceedings. The GCPD fully supported it, assigning a few extra patrols to the areas. Generally one or two of the gang would be kept off just to be available in case something happened in the rest of the city. And if you wanted to pass out candy, but didn't live in the safe neighborhoods, Wayne Industries pitched in every year to provide several pop up tents in each area for there to be sheltered areas for people out of the area to pass out candy.

Jason had jumped on this idea immediately when he had moved back to Gotham, keeping watch over some of the poorer communities in his territory. Usually, Roy would be out with him, but this year, since Lian and Roy now lived in Gotham, Roy had promised Lian he would go trick or treating with her(having procured himself a shitty Batman costume). Lian had declared that she wanted to get pictures with as many of the Bat Co. as she could, and Jason had told her that was a great idea and immediately threatened all of his family members.

After Lian's haircut and delivery of her Batgirl costume (complete with a very dulled down batarang), Jason and Lian said their good-byes and headed out to the car, beginning the drive back to their apartment. Upon arrival, Jason started supper, and Lian went to do her homework. A perfectly normal, domestic scene.

..................

Getting arrested hadn't exactly been on Jason's to do list for the day. Well, he wasn't arrested, just "brought in for questioning". Except he was in the interrogation room, sat in a cold steel chair in front of an even colder metal table. A pissed off blonde detective across from him. Jason wasn't going to crack, and was, in fact, more concerned about the fact that it was almost 3pm and he had a kid to pick up from school.

"Mr. Peters," the detective sighed in annoyance. "Where were you last Thursday evening?"

"Bludhaven, visiting my brother."

"And what's your brothers name?"

"Detective Richard Grayson.... We're both adopted."

".... And do you know where Roy Harper was last Thursday at about two am."

"No, but I'm sure he was in bed. He works Fridays."

Jason was lying point blank. Yes he had been in Bludhaven on Thursday, but he had been back in time for Lian's bed time, and for patrol that evening. Yes he knew where Roy was at 2am that night, because he had just saved Jason, or rather the Red Hood's life.

"Do you know who this is?" The detective slid a crime scene picture onto a table.

"No, you said his name was Jerry or something like that though."

"Jeremy Fosters. He was a suspected heroin dealer in Park Row."

"Sooo… why am I here, then?"

"Because we think you and your boyfriend, Roy Harper can lead us to Red Hood and Arsenal and we can finally crack down on them."

Jason laughed. He laughed right in the detectives face. The detective stared at him in shock.

"Listen up, bitch. I sure as hell know Red Hood. The guys saved my ass enough times. I ain't a rat. I don't know if you noticed, but I live not far from Park Row. I grew in the streets, eating trash and stealing from fast food stores. I learned how to hide knives up my sleeves. Shit's gotten so much better since Hood showed up, despite what GCPD, Batman, and his whole flock of birds might think. I can walk down the road at night without having to worry about getting beaten to death, I can sleep at night knowing that my family and I are safe because of the Hood. So you can take your questions, and your thoughts of me ratting on him, and you can shove them right up your flabby ass."

The detective was turning a bright shade of red.

"Now, you got two options. One, you let me out of this tiny dungeon because you can't hold me without charging me. Or two, you refuse to let me leave and I break out and call my lawyers on you."

The detective didn't speak for a minute.

"Fine. I just have a few more questions though…"

Jason sighed heavily, looking at his watch.

"Listen dude, I gotta pick my kid up from school…"

The detective didn't move.

"Can I at least call her dad and let him know?"

"Go ahead."

Jason dug his phone out of his pocket, unlocking it and quickly finding Roy's contact and hitting call. It rang a few times.

"Hey, baby! What's up!" Roy's ever chipper voice answered.

"I can't pick up Lian."

The music that had been playing in the background immediately stopped.

"What? What's wrong."

"Uh…. I kinda got arrested…. Okay well no, I got brought on for questioning."

"What the hell! Why?!"

"That thing I told you about a few days ago? They think I'm involved too now."

"Jesus."

Jason decided now was not the time to remind Roy about the swear jar.

"Okay, crap… alright look, I'll call Gordon and Bruce, and we'll get you home in time for supper. I'm assuming I shouldn't come?"

"No."

"Okay. Just hang in tight, baby. You'll be okay."

"I know."

"Alright, see you tonight."

Roy hung up. Jason hadn't broken eye contact with the detective the whole time. He put his phone down before steepling his hands. For the next twenty minutes, Jason skillfully avoided questions. That is, until Commissioner Gordon, followed directly by Robin, walked in. Gordon looked pissed, Robin, hood up, arms crossed, looked as unamused as always.

"Questioning is over, Detective Lance. You're bordering on legal issues."

"Sir!" Lance protested.

Damian, or rather Robin, stepped forwards, offering a sharp glance to the detective, then to Jason, keeping eye contact as he tried to assess the man's anger levels.

"Are you okay?" He asked, voice masked.

"Yeah."

Robin turned on the detective.

"You will end this investigation now." He ordered calmly.

"Like hell I will!" The detective cried. "You think you can order me around?"

"I think I can do a whole hell of a lot more then order you," Robin threatened, domino covered eyes narrowing. "Arsenal shot your victim in protection of Red Hood, who had been immobilized and was being attacked by Mr. Foster. A perfectly legal situation."

"How the hell do you know this."

Robin produced a file he had been hiding, dropping it on the table. Pictures spilled out. They were stills of video footage of exactly what had happened, everything how Jason remembered it.

"Don't believe me?"

A USB was tossed onto the table.

"Mr. Peters, I believe you have supper waiting for you."

Jason began to stand.

"Wait, if Roy Harper isn't the Arsenal, how the hell did you know to come here?" The detective asked, he was clearly pissed at Robin.

"Simple. Jason called him, he contacted Arsenal and Red Hood, they contacted Batman, and Batman sent me."

"Why didn't Arsenal and Hood come?"

"Detective Lance. If I understood everything that Hood and his companion did, my job would be so much easier."

Jason tried not to take offense at that. The Detective watched as Jason followed Robin out, Gordon staying behind to yell at him.

"Hey, thanks for the save." Jason reached out to ruffle his hair and Damian smacked his hand away.

"Whatever. I was simply the only one available."

"And the only one other then Roy who can deal with my rages."

Damian smirked, holding up a tiny syringe with a clear liquid.

"Yes. Exactly."

Damian drove Jason back to the store where his motorcycle had been abandoned, zipping off in the batmobile the moment Jason had stepped away from the car. Jason cautiously drove back to his home, taking the stairs instead of the elevator, unlocking the door and walking in to the smell of pizza.

"Hey, Roy?!"

"Oh thank God!"

Jason shut and locked the door behind him, throwing his keys into the little table in the entryway and walking into the kitchen to find Roy slicing a homemade pizza.

"God I was so worried!" 

Roy quickly abandoned his pizza cutter and threw his arms around Jason, kissing him. His worry showing through the pressure and the desperatnesss of the kiss, as well as the pressure of his fingers on Jason's shoulder muscles. Jason, slipping his fingers into the belt loops of Roy's work jumper, tugged the man closer, relaxing slightly as he realized they were safe. Lian and Roy were fine.

"Jay!" Lians voice called.

Jason pulled away from Roy just as the eight year old smashed into his legs. He let go of Roy to crouch down and hug her tightly. She hugged him with a little more force then usual.

"Chim sẻ, I was scared," she whispered in his ear. "I didn't know what the police we're gonna do to you."

"It's okay, Lian. I'm fine now."

Lian nodded solemnly. Jason squeezed her slightly before straightening, catching Roy's worried glance. 

"Damian showed them the video footage of you dealing with Foster to protect me. We should be off the hook for that at least." 

"Okay, great. I guess we'll just have to be careful for the next few weeks."

"Can we eat now?" Lian whined, leaning against Jason's leg in that dramatic eight year old way.

"Yes, sweetheart."

Roy chuckled and pulled out some plates, quickly piling some pizza on them, handing Lian the smallest. Jason took one and led Lian to the sofa, he sat on the middle cushion, Lian on one side, and Roy on the other, legs thrown over Jason.

"Roy you better not have grease on that jumper."

"Calm down, Jay-baby, clean as the day I got them."

Roy turned on a movie for them to watch while eating. After finishing their food, Lian grabbed a blanket and snuggled up to Jason, and Roy claimed one of his hands. Jason smiled slightly. The Harper's were his family. He was theirs. And when the Harper's considered you family, they loved you like nothing else, and would always be there, no matter what you needed. It was something Jason had started getting used to, but sometimes, the overwhelming attachment still shocked him.

Roy let Lian stay up a little later than usual, it was Friday after all, promising her that they were staying in tonight (much to Jason's surprise). While Roy was making sure Lian was ready for bed, Jason slipped away, grabbing his pack of cigarettes and lighter from his jacket and sneaking out onto the fire escape. He leaned against the railing, pulling out one and lighting it. He hadn't been out there long when he heard the telltale grunt of Roy slipping through the window. He walked over, hands shoved deep in his pockets as he leaned with his back against the railing, looking at Jason.

"You know our landlord hates it when you do this."

"I know."

Jason watched the smoke curl up past his face as he released it from his lungs. He could sense Roy watching him, but he didn't speak, just stared out over Gotham. They lived on the fourth floor, so he had a pretty decent view of Crime Alley and Park Row.

He knew the Landlord hated it when he used the fire escape as anything other then a fire escape. In fact one time the guy had called Roy and yelled at him for a solid 2 minutes. When Roy had told Jason about the conversation, Jason's immediate reaction was "fuck that guy" and then to promptly put fifty cents in the jar(really bad words like fuck were fifty cents apiece, as says Queen Lian). He also knew Roy hated it when he smoked, but he had told the ginger pretty early on that it was either smoking or drinking because he wasn't going cold turkey on both. Roy picked drinking as the habit to kill and then slowly started working Jason's smoking habit down. He was more okay with it since Jason wasn't dumb enough to smoke around Lian, even though the girl knew he did it.

"Hey, Roy?" Jason glanced over, smoke escaping as he spoke.

"Yeah, Jay-baby?"

Jason hesitated, twirling his cigarette in between his fingers as he thought about what he wanted to say and how to say it, watching the burnt ash fall off and plummet down the four story drop. He chewed on his bottom lip, glancing away then back up at Roy, who was watching him patiently.

"Do you think… " Jason sighed, almost immediately giving up.

Roy turned, grabbing Jason's hand and squeezing it lightly, smiling reassuringly at him.

"What's wrong?"

"When I was at the manor the other day… Dick pointed out that I've started calling Lian my kid," he said finally.

"Yeah?" Roy didn't seem concerned.

"Are you okay with that?" Jason asked, glancing away so he couldn't see the painfully loving look Roy was giving him. Roy waited while Jason took a drag off his cigarette, watching him exhale it, and then waiting until he looked back over.

"Of course I am, Jason. You're a part of my tiny family now, whether we realize it or not. I can tell you love her like she was your own daughter, and as far as I'm concerned, you've been a better parent to her in the past few months then Jade was when she had her. So you can go around calling her your kid all you want. And as far as I can tell, she loves you like a parent….. though you'll never unseat me as the favorite."

Jason chuckled, lightly bumping his shoulder into Roy, who grinned back.

"And I never want to."

"Good. Now come on. Let's go inside, watch shitty romcoms and make out on the sofa, because we haven't had a night just to ourselves in weeks."

"You know, Harper. You were always quite good at improvising."

Roy laughed, climbing back inside. Jason took one last smoke, put out his cigarette in the ashtray he had smuggled out there and then followed, locking the window behind him.

...................

Jason had made Lian cry. Roy had spared no time in telling him that, and it was worse than a knife to the gut. Jason had left two nights ago. He had been out on patrol and Kori had showed up, saying she needed their help. Roy flat out told her he couldn't go, he didn't have anyone to watch Lian(even though they both knew Bruce would do it in a heartbeat), but Jason had agreed to go, saying goodbye to Roy and grabbing everything he could need from the safe house before meeting with Kori and taking off across country.

He didn't get the chance to call Roy until over two days later, when they had reached their hotel in Arizona. Roy had immediately informed Jason that when Lian woke up and found out he was gone, she cried for nearly two hours before Roy was able to convince her that Jason hadn't abandoned them and was coming back, he just had to go do some work with Aunt Kori(everyone was an Aunt or Uncle to this kid). Even after she understood what had happened, she apparently still cried so much that Roy called her in sick for the day. The moment he got off the phone, Jason, feeling like an enormous pile of shit, walked outside without a word to Kori and smoked several cigarettes without speaking to anyone.

Being away was both amazing and killing him. The first few days, Jason had this amazing feeling of freedom. He was out of Gotham, away from his family. He was free to be the Red Hood how he was before bats, he was free to crack skulls and fire his guns. He helped Kori track down a human trafficking ring and take down the leaders, bringing them, proof and lists of everyone else who had been involved to the police. But as they were cleaning up and getting kids back home, this incredibly empty, painful feeling started settling in his bones. It was slow at first, but the longer he was away(almost two weeks now) it gotten worse and worse. And he knew what he had to do.

"Kori, I'm going home."

Kori looked up, tightening a zip tie around a man's wrists. She raised an eyebrow but didn't speak for a minute as Jason evaded and winded another grunt. They were in Montana currently.

"What brought this about, Hood?"

"I've been gone too long."

".... Ah… let us finish up here and I will return you to Gotham."

"Thanks, Princess."

As promised, after they had cleaned up in Montana, they started back to Gotham. Jason had been gone a total of two weeks when he made it back to his apartment. And normally that'd be nothing. He couldn't care less about having been gone for months before he moved in with Roy…. But now…. Now he was beyond ready to walk in and find Roy and Lian and hug them both.

Of course life didn't go his way. He was about two steps from the lobby door when he heard screaming. Jason spun on his heel, he sprinted away, scaling a building and quickly changing into his armor in record time. He followed the screams, which had continued, and ran into an alleyway to find a girl, no older than 9, being carried by a much older man. She was kicking and screaming, beating at his back. Jason, now Red Hood, stepped out of the shadows, a gun heavy in his hand.

"Drop her."

His voice was distorted due to the mask, but it was clear enough that the man, and his partner right behind him, froze.

"Hood…. You've… you're back."

"Put the kid down before I put a bullet through your knee."

They started rambling, Jason didn't miss the second one loading his gun, and as if planned, the man with the child stepped over and the second one fired a round dead at Jason's chest. He grunted and staggered slightly at the force of the impact, but barely glanced down at the round buried in his Kevlar. He'd have to deal with that later. As promised, he quickly shot a round through the armed kidnappers shoulder, and then his knee, spinning to the second who used the struggling girl as a body shield.

"Do it Hood! I know you wouldn't hurt a child!"

Jason caught the glinting light. Heard the whispery rasp of metal sliding against metal. He put his hands up, finger along the barrel of the gun, showing he wouldn't shoot.

"Put her down and we can talk about this."

"I don't want to talk to you, Hood! Everyone knows what happens-" the man broke out into screams, dropping the girl.

Jason rushed forwards, scooping her up and spinning to donkey kick the kidnapper backwards. He turned to see the man flip over, a red arrow stuck in his back at an odd angle. He flipped a few times before landing at the feet of Arsenal, who smashed his nose with the end of his bow. The girl was screaming still, struggling to get away from Jason, who quickly pulled off his mask, letting her see that he was human.

"Hey, hi. You're okay, shh, don't worry. You're safe. I won't hurt you. You know Batman?"

She nodded slightly, her screaming dropping into sobbing.

"I work with him. He's a good guy…. Can you tell me your name?"

Jason glanced up and made eye contact with Arsenal, who was zip-tying the kidnappers.

"Georgia West," the girl hiccuped out, clenching at Jason's jacket.

"Okay, Georgia. I'm gonna call some really nice officers who are gonna take care of you. Can you tell me your parents names?"

The girl hiccuped out a woman's name, Angelia, it sounded like, Jason tapped his earpiece a few times until he knew it would call Commissioner Gordon for him.

"Gordon."

"Commissioner. It's Hood."

"Oh. You're back in town."

"I have a little girl named Georgia West. Said her mother's name was Angelia. She's between eight and ten, short blonde hair, hazel eyes."

"Alright, Hood, where you at? I'll send CPS and an officer to pick her up until we can find family."

"North side of Park Row."

The line went dead. Georgia was still crying in Jason's arms, he hummed softly to her, bouncing her and rubbing her back like he did with Lian when she was upset. Arsenal made his way over, scanning Jason up and down, but, to his credit, not reacting otherwise.

"When did you get back?"

"Just a half an hour ago. Kori dropped me off, and then I heard this happening."

"Where have you been?"

"Everywhere. Took down a major trafficking ring."

"God you've been busy."

"Yeah, sorry for not checking in… thanks for keeping watch on everything."

"Yeah, of course. It's my home now too."

Just then the police lights came through the alley. Jason picked up his helmet and walked out of the alley, Roy by his side. There were two police cars and a dark colored car that must belong to the sharply dressed woman walking over.

"Red Hood. Belinda Morris. Child Protective Services."

"Hey," Jason muttered.

The police officers were staring like Jason had grown a second head. He carried Georgia over to the CPS workers car, going to set her inside. She wouldn't let go.

"Hey, listen sweetheart. You gotta let go now, okay? You're safe. This nice lady is gonna keep you safe for me until your mommy can come get you."

"I'm… I'm scared."

"I know… you wanna know a secret?"

She looked up at him, nodding.

"Being brave doesn't mean you aren't still scared. It means that you can keep going even when you are afraid. So you think you can be brave?"

She hesitated then nodded, slowly letting go of Jason's jacket. He smiled softly at her.

"Alrighty, you'll be okay, Georgia."

He ruffled her hair before straightening and shutting the car door, spinning on Morris.

"You better keep her safe, you understand?!"

Morris nodded seriously. Jason, satisfied, stuck his brain bucket on his head and walked away, Arsenal on his heels. They walked a short distance before grappling to the building Jason had dumped his shit on. The second his helmet was off, Roy was kissing him.

"God, I missed you," Roy murmured, not pulling away long enough for Jason to get a response in.

They ended up sat on top of the roof(thank God Gotham had mostly flat roofs), Roy on top of Jason's lap as they made out. Jason had knocked Roy's hat off at some stage, and as a joke Roy had placed it on his head backwards before promptly returning to kissing him.

"I should get back to patrol," Roy murmured, pulling away from Jason.

"Eh, bat and his brats can handle it. Come on, I've been gone for two weeks. I need some boyfriend attention."

Roy chuckled, shaking his head at Jason.

"Tell you what. You go wake Lian up and tell her you're home," Roy said, gently pressing in on the divet in Jason's Kevlar. "And I'll go patrol for a bit more and then come home."

"Alright, Love. Don't get yourself injured."

"No promises," Roy kissed Jason a few more times before standing, grabbing his bow from where he had chucked it, walking to the edge of the building.

"Hey, speedy!"

Roy whipped around at the old code name.

"You forgot something." 

Jason pushed himself up, casually strolling over. He grabbed Roy by the collar, pulling him into another kiss and sticking his hat on top of his head.

"Be careful, cưng," he murmured, gently tugging Roy's hat down.

"You too."

As soon as Jason had released him, he stepped back, falling off the building before shooting his grapple, zipping away. Jason changed back into his civilian clothes, carefully climbing down before walking back to his apartment, finding his keys. He walked up the stairs, unlocking the door once he reached it, walking in and locking it back. He glanced around, nothing had changed in the two weeks he had been gone. But God even the smell of home was nice. Jason dropped his bag on the floor, walking over to Lian's room and gently pushing the door open.

"Lian?" He called, gently tapping on the door.

She didn't move. Jason could hear her breathing softly. He walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Lian."

She finally stirred, opening her eyes and squinting up at him.

"Cha?" She mumbled.

"No, em yêu. It's me, Chim sẻ."

Lian blinked at him a moment, then shook her head.

"Cha," she said confidently, and then jumped up and hugged him tightly.

Jason hugged the girl. His daughter. He hugged her tightly, letting her squeeze her arms around her neck like she was scared he'd disappear without warning again.

"Cha, I was scared."

"I know, em yêu. Roy told me. I'm so sorry I disappeared like that."

"I forgive you…. Where is Cha?"

"Finishing up patrols. He'll be back soon."

Lian nodded and pulled away, sitting in front of Jason. Jason noted, not for the first time, how tiny she was next to him. She weighed well under half of what he did. Her hair had been put in pigtail braids. She yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Go back to sleep, Lian. I'll be here in the morning."

"Okay… goodnight Cha," she said softly, crawling back under her covers.

"Good night…. Con gái."

Lian grinned up at him, but snuggled up to her stuffed bear, closing her eyes. Jason bent down, kissing her forehead before sneaking out. He walked into his and Roy's bedroom, grabbing clean clothes before walking to the bathroom, taking a shower. He needed to redye his hair. After his shower, he walked back out into the kitchen, wearing just boxers and sweatpants. He raided the fridge, digging out what appeared to be leftover taco meat. He threw some cheese and salsa in it, heated it up and then sat up on the counter, eating his creation with chips while he waited for Roy.

Forty minutes later, the red head walked in. He grinned the second he saw Jason, but didn't walk over. He disappeared into their bedroom, heading towards the bathroom when he reappeared.

"I'm gonna take a shower. Trust me, you don't want anything to do with me currently."

Jason nodded in agreement, he could smell sweat and something foul coming from Roy. The man chuckled and disappeared, taking a record eight minute shower, then came back out, carrying Jason and his clothes. While he was in the bedroom, Jason, hopeful as ever, slipped into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He peeked in on Lian to find the girl asleep, and then walked in to the bedroom to find Roy brushing and braiding his own hair, his nimble fingers skillfully twisting the strands.

"Lian's asleep."

"Perfect."

Jason sat down on the bed to watch Roy until he had finished, tying his braid with an elastic. Jason was a tad disappointed, he loved running his hands through the long ginger strands, wrapping them around his fingers, tugging on chunks to get a reaction from Roy. It always worked. Roy turned to face him, pulling the sweatshirt he had been wearing off and throwing it towards the laundry hamper. Jason leaned back on his hands, letting his eyes scan over Roy's muscular chest.

Roy was built differently then him. While Jason was naturally broad shouldered, naturally muscular, Roy was all hard earned muscles, mainly on his arms, back, and chest, built from years of pulling back a bow with the heaviest draw Jason had even seen. Hell, it had been a bit of a struggle for him to pull it back. Roy had less of the Dorito shaped chest, more of a straight shot from his chest down to his thighs. They both had their fair share of scars, and Jason had almost every single one of Roy's memorized.

Roy, done with his own inspection to make sure Jason hadn't killed himself while he was gone, walked over, settling himself on Jason's lap, hands reaching up to dig through Jason's hair.

"How was your trip really?"

"It was fine. Same deal as usual. We can talk about it in the morning.*

Jason leaned up to kiss Roy, but the ginger stayed just out of reach.

"Eager beaver, hmm?"

"Roy, darling. I have been gone from you for two weeks. Previous to that, it had been quite a while since we had any type of an evening to ourselves. So yes, I'm quite eager. So shut up before I make you."

"Fine fine," Roy said with a laugh. "But we can't wake Lian up."

"That's your problem, Mr. Loudmouth."

Roy glared at him, but Jason kept him from arguing (one of the things they did best) by intercepting Roy's words with his mouth (another thing they were great at).

Later, when they were curled up together, Roy was letting his fingers trail over Jason's chest and drag over his scars slowly. Roy's braid had fallen out at some point, and Jason was quietly playing with the section right behind his ear. Jason had been quietly pondering something for the past few minutes.

"Roy."

"Yes, baby?"

"Lian called me her dad."

"Yeah? How'd that feel?"

"It was nice… it'll take some getting used too."

"Understandable…. I've had her since she was a baby, and it took me a good year to get used to the idea of being a dad."

"Yeah…."

"To be fair… she talked to me about it while you were gone…"

"What?" Jason raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend, who smiled lightly. 

"She wanted to make sure I was okay with her calling you her dad, she explained to me that she really does think of you like another dad. I told her it was fine with me if she thought she was ready to do so, and I guess she was."

Jason hummed, making eye contact with Roy, smiling at him.

"Are you ready for it?" Roy asked, letting his hand rest over Jason's heart. 

"... Yeah, I think I am… I've spent enough time running from people and attachment…"

Roy chuckled. "Oh, I'm well aware."

Jason leaned over, kissing Roy lightly.

"We should get some sleep."

"Agreed."

Neither spoke for a moment, just kept kissing.

"Good night, love."

"Night, Jay."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!!!!
> 
> I'm a sucker for Kudos and Comments. It's kinda like feeding a Gremlin tbh.
> 
> Edit: AHHH. You guys! I posted this story about 30 hours ago and it's already at 400 hits! I'm glad you guys are enjoying it so much!!


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